NBA Trade Rumors: 3 teams who should take a gamble on Gordon Hayward
By Lior Lampert
2. Oklahoma City Thunder
Thunder add a valuable veteran in Gordon Hayward
Sitting at 26-11 and just half a game back of the Minnesota Timberwolves for the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, the Oklahoma City Thunder have taken the league by storm this season. However, none of their key rotational players have playoff experience. Hayward, a 14-year veteran with 29 postseason games under his belt, could provide the Thunder with a solid rotational piece whose impact goes beyond his on-court performance.
After trading three first-round picks to move up in the 2022 NBA Draft to select Ousmane Dieng with the eleventh overall pick, he has failed to crack the rotation consistently, averaging 13.7minutes per game and appearing in just 58 games dating back to last season. Here, they’d have the chance to recoup some of the value they gave up to draft Dieng by flipping him for a secondary scorer in Hayward who fits in well with the way the Thunder like to play as a versatile option who can play multiple positions and make threes at an efficient rate.
For the Hornets, they’d get to take a flier on an interesting prospect in Dieng who has not been given ample opportunity due to the players ahead of him as well as a second-round pick instead of buying out Hayward and giving him up for nothing. Davis Bertans is a veteran sharpshooter who could serve as a rotational piece for the Hornets until he hits unrestricted free agency in 2025.